Charles Koch: Clinton Might Make Better President Than GOP Pick

Charles Koch talks with ABC News' Jonathan Karl in an interview that was broadcast Sunday.

Screenshot/ABC News

Conservative billionaire Charles Koch is so disillusioned by the Republican contenders for the presidency that he thinks “it’s possible” Hillary Clinton could make a better president than whoever the GOP will pick at its convention. There is a strong caveat to that statement though and it would involve Clinton abandoning the principles and plans she has been talking about in the campaign trial. "We would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric,” Koch said in an interview with ABC News.

This would hardly be the first time that he thinks a Democrat could be better than a Republican. “In some ways” Bill Clinton was a better president than George W. Bush, he said. "In other ways, I mean [Clinton] wasn't an exemplar. But as far as the growth of government, the increase in spending," Koch said. "It was 2.5 times [more] under Bush than it was under Clinton."

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The CEO of Koch Industries thinks the GOP contest is such a mess that he may very well stay out of this presidential race. If Trump or Ted Cruz want Koch’s support, they would have to first take back a few of their most controversial campaign promises. Koch is horrified that Cruz has vowed to carpet bomb ISIS and “make the sand glow” and Trump has promised to ban Muslims from entering the country. "What was worse was this 'we'll have them all registered,'" Koch said. "That's reminiscent of Nazi Germany. I mean—that’s monstrous."

In one portion of the interview, Koch said he agrees with those who say the economy is rigged in favor of the wealthy. "In the policy area that's our number one policy objective to change that," Koch said.

Daniel Politi has been contributing to Slate since 2004 and wrote the Today’s Papers column from 2006 to 2009. Follow him on Twitter.